Faerie Lights and Ferris Wheels
by pandorabox82
Summary: Henrik manages to run into Sacha during his holiday trip to Edinburgh. And he finds that time spent with friends outside of work can truly be the best thing in the world


Henrik had been surprised to run into Sacha at the Christmas market in Edinburgh, since that wasn't a place where he would have thought him to go, seeing as he was Jewish. But then, he seemed to remember that his ex-wife was Christian, and had been raising their son in that faith tradition. Still, that didn't seem to explain why he was so far away from home that weekend. "It really is a small world! Did Oskar want to come up here for some reason?" he asked as they started down the walkway in Prices Street Gardens.

"I thought that it would be a better introduction to British Christmas markets then taking him to the one in Manchester. I have heard from some of our colleagues that that particular one is quite large, and I am already worrying about keeping Oskar by my side here."

"You didn't want to leash him?" Sacha replied with a chuckle, and Henrik narrowed his eyes a little. "It's an option, even for a five year old. I was thinking about doing the same with Daniel, honestly. Something shiny catches their attention, and they're gone in the flash of an eye!"

"Be that as it may, I rather think that I would be able to spot Oskar in the crowd, if need be, than leash him like he was some sort of pet and not my grandson." As those words left his mouth, Henrik's eyes widened to see that there was indeed a parent who had their child on a leash, though it looked like a monkey backpack, and he felt like he had to swallow his words, even as Sacha laughed loudly.

"Rethinking your position now, aren't you?" the other man teased and he just shot him a look as he tightened his grip on Oskar's hand. "It happens, once we see something in action. Now, where were you thinking of heading?"

"I wanted to take Oskar for a ride on the wheel, since that was all he's been asking for since we arrived in the city."

Sacha nodded as he looked down at the boys, a warm smile on his lips. "Would you mind if you had guests? I think that Daniel might have a little more confidence riding it if there was another little boy his age there as well."

Henrik tilted his head a little, torn between agreeing and allowing Sacha to have alone time with his son, since he knew that the man didn't get that very often. Still, there was something about the look on his face that told him it was important that Daniel feel confident in things, so he decided to acquiesce and gave him a small nod. "I believe that we would all enjoy having someone our ages to talk with as we wait in line and then ride."

"Perfect," Sacha replied, and his shoulders relaxed a little as they directed their boys over to the queue for the wheel. Since it was a Friday evening, the queue was quite long, but the wonderful thing about having a second adult present was the ability to have one stay in line while the other got refreshments, which is precisely what he did when both boys started bugging them for hot chocolate. Sacha slipped him some money to pay for him and Daniel, and then Henrik was on the hunt for a booth selling what the boys wanted.

That queue was surprisingly brief, but he supposed that was due to the fact that they wanted to make as much profit as possible, and the easiest way to do that was to have a smoothly moving line. Twenty minutes after leaving them, Henrik had managed to rejoin Sacha and the boys, and he carefully handed Oskar and Daniel their smaller cups, before handing Sacha his change and cup. "There was a more adult option, but I was uncertain if you had driven here, and didn't want to take that chance."

"That's fine, Henrik, I don't like to choose that option when I'm with Daniel, as I want to be completely present during the short bits of time that I'm afforded with."

He nodded as he brought the cup to his lips, sipping carefully at the warm drink as they slowly moved forward in line. It took another thirty minutes before they had reached the front, and as he fumbled with his wallet to get out money to pay for him and Oskar, Sacha put his hand on his arm. "No, no, Henrik, I have this. You were so kind to agree to having us tag along, this is the least I can do." Henrik smiled as he gave the man a small nod, and then they were heading up to the platform, still having to wait a little while until they were in their own car.

The boys clambered in first, sitting furthest away from the door, and he found himself contorting his body to fit in the car, but still his knees were touching Sacha's as the car rocked back and forth as it began to rise up. Oskar looked up at him in fear, his eyes widening a little, and Henrik took hold of his hand, holding it softly as he smiled at his grandson. "_Farfar_, I don't like this."

"It's okay to be afraid, Oskar. This is a new experience for you. But I'm here, and so is Mister Levy, and we'll protect you if anything should happen. However, this is a very safe ride, and you should know that there is little to no danger of anything bad happening." Glancing over at Daniel, he saw that the boy was looking at him fearfully, and he knew that he would have to reassure both of them. "Now, look out the windows and you can see the way that the city has been decorated to look like faerie lights in the sky." He leaned over Oskar and began to point out some of the buildings that they had walked past, and slowly, the boy began to relax and even get a little enthusiastic about the ride. That enthusiasm washed off on Daniel, until he, too, was starting to react with a lot of animation, tugging on Sacha's hand to show off the things that Henrik was pointing out.

Eventually, the ride came to an end, and the boys looked at them with pleading eyes. Chuckling lowly to himself, Henrik looked to Sacha, and knew that he had come to the same conclusion. "Well, I suppose that we could go around the market together. I thought I saw a small children's area a little way over. Do you want to head in that direction?"

Henrik nodded, finding himself content to spend time with the man, since it truly seemed like Oskar and Daniel were fast becoming friends, and he didn't want to end that precious moment between them. He knew that it was hard for Oskar to make friends, with his job at the hospital precluding any birthday parties or playtimes that he might have gotten invited to. He also tried not to notice the fact that Oskar was having a difficult time making friends and didn't have very many of those invitations. Taking hold of his grandson's hand, he followed after Sacha and Daniel, listening the thrum of the crowd around them.

"Up, _farfar_," Oskar asked as he tugged on Henrik's arm, and he nodded as he lifted his grandson up in his arms, arranging him on his shoulders so that he could see above the crowd as they walked along. Daniel was soon asking the same of Sacha, and they walked along together, talking quietly as they listened to their boys chatter away happily. There was something so right about a moment like this, and he found himself relaxing more and more the closer they got to the children's carnival area. There were more people here than had been by the wheel, and Henrik felt himself tense up once more, wondering how he would be able to keep an eye on Oskar and still allow him to have fun. His hands tightened around his grandson's legs before taking a deep breath and helping him to the ground.

"All right, let's have some fun," he said with as much brightness as he could muster, and then the boys were leading them through the throng of people to what they wanted to do. It was surprising just how much fun Henrik found himself having by watching Oskar and Daniel run around and get to know some of the other children, soon forming a little band of boys that didn't really seem to have a leader. "I never thought that I would see him blossom like this," he said offhandedly, giving Sacha a quick smile before turning his attention back to the boys.

"It's good to let children be children. Daniel doesn't really have a companion when he spends time with me, since Beka is so much older than he is, and I just really wanted him to have some fun this Christmas. I don't know how many more I'm going to get with him, since Chrissie wants to move, again."

Henrik nodded slowly, knowing that that fact was quite painful for the man to admit. "Still, I think that you should make an effort to stay in his life. I chose not to do that, and still bitterly regret how my son turned out. I'm not saying that Daniel is like my Fredrik, just that I now regret not making an effort to be in his life. I treated him like my dirty little secret, and look at how well that turned out." He didn't know why he was opening up to the man, but it felt right in that moment, as if he knew that Sacha would never repeat them out of turn.

"You did not force him to bring a gun to our workplace, Henrik, nor did you pull the trigger. He was a troubled young man, and he should have received better mental health help than he did. There will be a lot of things that you look back on and second guess, but don't. He made his choices, and you made yours, and you are doing a fine job with stepping in to take care of Oskar. He adores you, and I think that that is the truest sign that you did something amazingly right in your life."

He was surprised to find quick tears stinging his eyes, and he cleared his throat to stem their flow before taking a deep breath. "Thank you for that glowing assessment of myself, Sacha."

"It's the truth, and someone needs to keep speaking truth to you." There was a kindness in his expression that told Henrik he meant every word, and he wondered what he had done to deserve such a friend in his life. After the deaths of John and Roxanna, it had been difficult to find his footing once more, and he kept wishing that she was there to ask questions and lend him a hand in raising Oskar. Essie was fine, in small doses, but there was something so cloying about her presence that he didn't really want to rely on her very much, as that would give her more reasons to glom onto his life. "After we're done here, do you want to head out and try to find somewhere to eat? I know that there are a lot of food stalls, but, well, it's getting cold, and I'm a little worried about Daniel and Oskar not realizing that they're too cold."

"That is a good idea." He gave the man another smile as he pulled out his phone and looked up the closest family friendly restaurant before booking a table and then looking up at Sacha once more. "I've booked us a table at a well-reviewed place nearby in about twenty minutes. If we round up the boys now, we should be able to reach there just in time."

Sacha grinned as he raised his voice and called Oskar and Daniel over to their side, lifting Daniel up onto his shoulders once more. Henrik followed suit, and then they were underway for the restaurant. It took nearly the twenty minutes to walk there, as the throng of people didn't seem to let up, even though they were moving away from their destination. Henrik tried not to allow himself to become too frustrated with the crowd, since there wasn't a reason to be upset, just his own personal tics that led him to prefer the intimate company of a friend or two over a loud crush of people.

Once they were checked in, Henrik was surprised to find they were whisked away to a table quite quickly, and he looked over the menu, helping Oskar to find something that he would like before making his own choice. They were all ready to order by the time their server came to the table, and he wasn't surprised that Oskar and Daniel had chosen the same meal, since he and Sacha had also ended up choosing the same entrée. That symmetry just told him that they were meant to meet up at the moment in time, and as he focused on the faerie lights that decorated the restaurant, Henrik found that he couldn't imagine being anywhere else in that moment. The company of a good friend had allowed his perspective to change for the better, and there was no better holiday gift that he could think of in that moment.


End file.
